1) Get old outlines.2) Get secondary sources.3) Compare relevant black letter law, using old outlines and syllabus as guideposts. Reduce all rules to elements. (If your teacher has slides, use those too. But still reduce.)4) Organize rules in rule, subrule, subsubrule, etc., hierarchy.5) Jot down the essential facts from cases discussed in class next to rules. I put in parenthesis. Get these essential facts from old outlines and online. No more than a few words. 6) Reduce, reduce, reduce. Make a system of abbreviations; reduce margins; reduce font; remove excess words; etc. The key is to go over this thing many times and reduce to bare bones. 7) Practice writing out the rule statements over and over (and over). Also practice using analogies from the case jots. In other words, understand the rules through the essential facts.

That's all you need, I promise. Do not start this process earlier than 1.5 months before exams. If you like going to class, just go to listen. DO NOT feel stressed to take notes. You don't need to know everything. You need to rack up points my mastering application of basic rules.

I've only just finished my first semester of law school, but I've found a couple of things that worked well for me: 1) Avoid advice from other 1Ls. Seriously. The first month or so of law school, I allowed my fellow 1Ls to dictate my study habits, and it stressed me out to no end. Talking to 2Ls and 3Ls that are genuine and helpful is far more useful and reassuring than talking to other 1Ls that are just as lost as you are.

2) Have a routine and stick to it. Lots of people give up all of their hobbies unrelated to law school when the rubber hits the road with studying. I found that having a routine that included exercise (yoga and gym time) and another hobby (for me, singing) was important. Exercising required waking up a little earlier (about 45 minutes or so), but it was well worth it for maintaining my physique and my stress levels.

3) Exams are crazy, but not that crazy I think the scariest part of my first semester was the anticipation of final exams. The reality? Exam- studying is hard work, but if you do your readings and pay attention during the semester, the pre-exam period is simply about reviewing what you already know. I found that working an occasional practice test throughout the semester was helpful as well, because as I studied, I already knew which issues to pay attention to. Ask your law school's library as to whether your professors have old exams on file at the beginning of the semester, so that you have some idea about what your professors are looking for. As for exam studying, have a schedule and stick to it. I made sure not to neglect sleep, good nutrition, and exercise during exam period, and I had more than enough time to prepare.

4) Talk to your professors. I realize that there are mixed opinions on office hours, etc. but I found them to be very helpful. I had some professors that would "hide the ball" more than others, and often would reveal more insights in office hours rather than in class. Plus, if you plan on asking a prof for a letter of recommendation at some point, it's important that you distinguish yourself from others from the onset.

5) Get ahold of old outlines early Some people seemed to have an idea of how to outline without help, and some didn't. Having another student's old outline will help your figure out which concepts your professor tends to focus on.

doctoroflaw91 wrote:I've only just finished my first semester of law school, but I've found a couple of things that worked well for me: 1) Avoid advice from other 1Ls. Seriously. The first month or so of law school, I allowed my fellow 1Ls to dictate my study habits, and it stressed me out to no end. Talking to 2Ls and 3Ls that are genuine and helpful is far more useful and reassuring than talking to other 1Ls that are just as lost as you are.

2) Have a routine and stick to it. Lots of people give up all of their hobbies unrelated to law school when the rubber hits the road with studying. I found that having a routine that included exercise (yoga and gym time) and another hobby (for me, singing) was important. Exercising required waking up a little earlier (about 45 minutes or so), but it was well worth it for maintaining my physique and my stress levels.

3) Exams are crazy, but not that crazy I think the scariest part of my first semester was the anticipation of final exams. The reality? Exam- studying is hard work, but if you do your readings and pay attention during the semester, the pre-exam period is simply about reviewing what you already know. I found that working an occasional practice test throughout the semester was helpful as well, because as I studied, I already knew which issues to pay attention to. Ask your law school's library as to whether your professors have old exams on file at the beginning of the semester, so that you have some idea about what your professors are looking for. As for exam studying, have a schedule and stick to it. I made sure not to neglect sleep, good nutrition, and exercise during exam period, and I had more than enough time to prepare.

4) Talk to your professors. I realize that there are mixed opinions on office hours, etc. but I found them to be very helpful. I had some professors that would "hide the ball" more than others, and often would reveal more insights in office hours rather than in class. Plus, if you plan on asking a prof for a letter of recommendation at some point, it's important that you distinguish yourself from others from the onset.

5) Get ahold of old outlines early Some people seemed to have an idea of how to outline without help, and some didn't. Having another student's old outline will help your figure out which concepts your professor tends to focus on.

IDK. Some 1L's will have much better advice than some 2L's and 3L's. The strategies don't really change except that people lose the work ethic. I don't know how your grades panned out, but hearing multiple perspectives on things generally leads to a better end result than ignoring other perspectives unless the other perspectives are panicky.

And yeah, one key is to be outlining from day one. This is part of why briefs are useless if you can understand the cases without breaking them down. All that really matters is the issue and the rule, and maybe 1 key fact. You should always be outlining, and shortening stuff down when you realize you either remember it or can't use it on a test. All that matters is the test. You're not going to be doing anything with practical use with anything you read.

Old outlines are generally useless if they're not from your professor. Your time would be better served just using Emmanuel and making an outline from that than some one size fits all outline that was written for TTTT students as well.

Just finished my first semester and want to give a thumbs up to Lazy's guide. I didn't actually read it until about 20 minutes ago (to see if anyone else had said what I was going to say), but it's on the money.

I got pretty freaked out 1L fall because I thought lots of my classmates were working much harder than I was (which they were) and consulting a ton of supplements (which they were). At one point, I genuinely believed I didn't belong in law school. I was afraid I just didn't have the work ethic to succeed next to some of these people who were living in the library for 8 hours a day, months before exams.

I did every page of assigned reading and attended just about every class (missed like 3 total). I paid close attention in class, which is severely underrated on TLS for some reason. I used other people's outlines, didn't start studying until Thanksgiving, and didn't start taking practice exams until reading period. Never went to office hours, never raised my hand in class, no study group. Outside of doing the reading, I didn't do any studying during the semester (until Thanksgiving). I put a premium on just making sure that I fully understood everything my professors discussed in class. I didn't use a single supplement and honestly couldn't even name one. I've heard the name Glennon, but I don't know what class it's for or even what it really is. As far as learning how to take an exam, I just tried to model my answer style after the past sample answers. Each class had a few, so I chose the one that was most natural for me.

Pretty sure I'm #1 in my section. If not, I'm by default tied for #2. I guess everyone learns differently, but I think some people make success in law school much too complicated. When people talk about the tricks of law school, they usually say that everyone understands the law, but taking the exam and separating yourself is the hard part. That hasn't been my experience. My experience is that a lot of people flat-out don't understand the things that were taught, and/or don't know how/when to apply them. IMO the vast majority of people at my school -- and probably most T14s -- would be better off ditching the supplements and rigorous study habits and focusing their attention on assigned readings and class notes.

PennLaw16 wrote:Just finished my first semester and want to give a thumbs up to Lazy's guide. I didn't actually read it until about 20 minutes ago (to see if anyone else had said what I was going to say), but it's on the money.

I got pretty freaked out 1L fall because I thought lots of my classmates were working much harder than I was (which they were) and consulting a ton of supplements (which they were). At one point, I genuinely believed I didn't belong in law school. I was afraid I just didn't have the work ethic to succeed next to some of these people who were living in the library for 8 hours a day, months before exams.

I did every page of assigned reading and attended just about every class (missed like 3 total). I paid close attention in class, which is severely underrated on TLS for some reason. I used other people's outlines, didn't start studying until Thanksgiving, and didn't start taking practice exams until reading period. Never went to office hours, never raised my hand in class, no study group. Outside of doing the reading, I didn't do any studying during the semester (until Thanksgiving). I put a premium on just making sure that I fully understood everything my professors discussed in class. I didn't use a single supplement and honestly couldn't even name one. I've heard the name Glennon, but I don't know what class it's for or even what it really is. As far as learning how to take an exam, I just tried to model my answer style after the past sample answers. Each class had a few, so I chose the one that was most natural for me.

Pretty sure I'm #1 in my section. If not, I'm by default tied for #2. I guess everyone learns differently, but I think some people make success in law school much too complicated. When people talk about the tricks of law school, they usually say that everyone understands the law, but taking the exam and separating yourself is the hard part. That hasn't been my experience. My experience is that a lot of people flat-out don't understand the things that were taught, and/or don't know how/when to apply them. IMO the vast majority of people at my school -- and probably most T14s -- would be better off ditching the supplements and rigorous study habits and focusing their attention on assigned readings and class notes.

While this is a bit braggy, Agree with the no need for 8 hour library crams months bfore exams.

Just want to point out, this works for some classes and not others. I did have a study group, but I didnt use supplements first semester and created my own outlines off class & casebook notes, paid a lot of attention to professor style. Paid off in two classes. Did not in the other: professor gave an exam that did not resemble class material whatsoever, and my keen insight into this profs ways of thinking and cold-call logic were far less valuable than a solid supplement. Overall, still a good result, but profs have no obligation to test what they teach so this is far from foolproof.

tooting my own horn here, but I realized that by posting in the "ask a law student" thread, I ended up attracting a lot of 0Ls. Though I am very happy to help them, I am also willing to answer questions from rising 2Ls. Here's my thread ("Top 5 Student at T14 Taking Questions") in case you are interested:viewtopic.php?f=4&t=231753

The thread basically addresses the same sort of issues as in this thread.